Wednesday, 26 January 2011

Over the last two or three years there really hasn’t been someone whose command and deployment of rhythm has so completely enthralled me as much as the man behind 2562, Dave Huismans. His music, whether under the aforementioned numerical postcode guise or his more heavy handed house orientated moniker, A Made Up Sound, always brings a pang of excitement and that palpable thump to any soundsystem its played on. Whilst other producers might choose to experiment more with the lower frequencies, relying on drawn out 808 kicks or tremulant low end to work the soundsystem, Huismans just further hones his craft, working overtime on his drum lines. Bringing the bump and snap like no one else, his tracks under either name are instantly recognisable.

‘Aquatic Family Affair’ and ‘This Is Hardcore’ are the first beats under the 2562 moniker to surface since Huismans’ last album under the name, 2009’s Unbalance – if you overlook his ‘The Wind Up’ track on Modeselektor’s Modeselektion Vol 1., which we are doing here to create some kind of elemental form of drama. They’re also the first 2562 material to not be housed on Pinch’s influential Tectonic imprint, with Huismans’ instead birthing a brand new label subjectively called When In Doubt, for the release of this single – 300 ltd edition blue vinyl 10”s. It's reportedly a prelude to a brand new 2562 album coming later this year.

‘Aquatic Family Affair’ should really be trademarked; it’s slamming kick drum, swung snares and chord interplay is classic 2562: his synths sirening up and out of earshot in the drum heavy breakdowns before he lets his hi hats fly and the beat rolls out again. His measurement and attention to the dancefloor make the rhythm omnipresent, its broken shuffle is destined to push your shoulders out at regular integers as the dry top on the kick drum works your ears perfectly, its base hitting you roughly in the chest. ‘This Is Hardcore’ is an ultimately darker beast, built on a brooding kick drum/bass stab pattern. Loop sampling keys and vinyl atmos in a similar manner to the way Addison Groove does on tracks like ‘It’s Got Me,’ gives it that eerie, anxious edge which suits the power and mannerism of the drum line to a tee. Huismans’ balances out the weight of the bass parts with little percussive flourishes and it’s those shakers and fills that keep popping out on repeat listens.

Two heavyweight cuts that suggest 2562’s prevalence, when the wider internet was loving off more on A Made Up Sound, was never in doubt.